Downtown Yonge East in Toronto, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)

The King Edward Hotel / L'hôtel King Edward

The King Edward Hotel Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 28, 2022

1. The King Edward Hotel Marker

(mounted on right side of hotel entrance)

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

[English]
The King Edward Hotel was built by George Gooderham's Toronto Hotel Company to meet the demand in the rising metropolis for a grand hotel. When it opened in 1903, the hotel, affectionately known as the “King Eddy”, was embraced by the city. The fireproof, eight-storey building, designed by eminent Chicago architect Henry Ives Cobb and prominent Toronto architect E.J. Lennox, provided luxury and service in dramatic settings. The 18-storey tower, with its top-floor Crystal Ballroom, was added in 1920-21 to enlarge the hotel. Although threatened with demolition in the 1970s, the hotel was revitalized in 1980-81. On its 100th anniversary in 2003, the King Edward, Toronto's first luxury hotel, remains a vibrant and elegant meeting place for local and international visitors.

[Français]
L'hôtel King Edward est construit par la Toronto Hotel Company de George Gooderham pour répondre aux besoins d'une métropole en pleine croissance. Inauguré en 1903, ce grand hôtel — surnommé le «King Eddy» — reçoit un accueil chaleureux de la population. Dessiné par deux grands architectes de l’époque, Henry

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Ives Cobb de Chicago et E.J. Lennox de Toronto, le bâtiment résistant au feu de huit étages conjugue luxe et service dans un cadre prestigieux. Une tour de dix-huit étages, couronnée par la Crystal Ballroom, y est ajoutée en 1920-21. Menacé de démolition dans les années 1970, le King Edward est restauré en 1980-1981. En 2003, pour son centenaire, le premier grand hôtel de Toronto reste un lieu de rencontre élégant et animé pour les visiteurs d’ici et d’ailleurs.

Erected 2003 by Ontario Heritage Foundation / Fondation du patrimoine ontarien.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Notable Buildings. In addition, it is included in the Canada, Ontario Heritage Foundation series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1903.

Location. 43° 38.966′ N, 79° 22.575′ W. Marker is in Toronto, Ontario. It is in Downtown Yonge East. Marker is on King Street East just east of Victoria Street, on the right when traveling east. Marker is mounted at eye-level, directly on the subject building, just to the right of the front entrance. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 37 King Street East, Toronto ON M5C 1E9, Canada. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Charter Meeting of The Rotary Club of Toronto (within shouting distance of this marker); York's First Jail (within

L'hôtel King Edward Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 28, 2022

2. L'hôtel King Edward Marker

(mounted on left side of hotel entrance)

shouting distance of this marker); Toronto Post Office/Le bureau de poste de Toronto (within shouting distance of this marker); York's Second Jail (within shouting distance of this marker); Consumers' Gas Company Building (about 120 meters away, measured in a direct line); Consumers' Gas 150th Anniversary (about 120 meters away); Excelsior Life Building (about 120 meters away); The Dominion Bank Building (about 150 meters away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Toronto.

More about this marker. French version of marker is mounted just to the left of the front entrance. The Ontario Heritage Trust unveiled these markers on May 8, 2003, in celebration of the hotel's 100th anniversary.

Also see . . .
1. A Brief History of the King Edward Hotel in Toronto.

The popularity of the hotel in its early years necessitated the construction of a 500-room extension to the east end of the building. Completed in 1921 at a cost of around $2 million, the new 18-storey wing included a top-floor banquet and convention hall — later
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 28, 2022

3. King Edward Hotel Entrance
(markers are mounted at eye-level on either side of the entrance)
known as the crystal ballroom. Happily for Toronto, the King Edward was listed as a historic structure in 1973. A plan to demolish the building for a 30-storey office tower was successfully seen off in 1974, saving the "grand old lady of hotels" from an ignominious end.

(Submitted on October 20, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

2. The Omni King Edward Hotel.

Notable dignitaries and luminaries housed in the hotel have been Mark Twain, Rudolph Valentino, Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, Margaret Thatcher, Britney Spears, and Ernest Hemingway who had lived in the hotel for a period. The Beatles stayed at the hotel's royal suite during their first visit to Toronto, in 1964, and caused the hotel's biggest commotion to date, when 3,000 fans packed the streets and flooded the lobby. In February 1964, "moralists picketed" when Liz Taylor and Richard Burton stayed in a suite together; they were not married to one another at the time, causing a scandal.

(Submitted on October 20, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

3. Henry Ives Cobb.

Based in Chicago in the last decades of the 19th century, he was known for his designs in the Richardsonian Romanesque and Victorian Gothic styles. Cobb and partner Charles S. Frost designed the Palmer Mansion
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 28, 2022

4. King Edward Hotel • 18-story Tower (1921)
on Lake Shore Drive; the Chicago Varnish Company Building; the Episcopal Church of the Atonement; the Chicago Federal Building; the Newberry Library; the Fisheries Building at the World's Columbian Exposition; and many pre-1900 buildings at Lake Forest College and the University of Chicago. Elsewhere, he designed the Sinclair Oil Building in Manhattan; the Olive Building in St. Louis; and the University of Chicago Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, WI.

(Submitted on November 6, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

King Edward Hotel Lobby image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 28, 2022

5. King Edward Hotel Lobby

King Edward Hotel Atrium image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 28, 2022

6. King Edward Hotel Atrium

King Edward Hotel (<i>north/front façade • on King Street East</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 28, 2022

7. King Edward Hotel (north/front façade • on King Street East)

Credits. This page was last revised on November 6, 2022. It was originally submitted on October 20, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 114 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on October 20, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.